My friend and I stayed at the hotel in mid-october. I tried out several rooms but the penthouse suites were the nicest. Extremely roomy with nice modern amenities, including a jacuzzi. Of them all, I think room 202 had the best layout and was the most comfortable. The staff were all very friendly and helpful and the girls working the bar were fun to chat with. Alex Palma, the taxi driver/tour operator who works out of the hotel is a great source to use if you have questions about San Jose or tours. Overall, I would have given this hotel an excellent rating except for one big drawback...the train noise! There is a commuter train line that runs right next to the hotel and every morning (and evenings) the trains come through. Depending on the location of the room, the train noise can be absolutely annoying. Definitely recommend having earplugs available if you stay here.

My husband and I stayed here at various points throughout our 2 week Costa Rican honeymoon in February 2010. The major shuttle services (Grayline and Interbus) pick up from this hotel, and cabs come here often as well, so we stayed for a day or two when we first arrived in Costa Rica, got picked up and went to La Fortuna/Monteverde, and on the way to Puerto Viejo we stopped here again for a night to break up transit time.

First of all, the service is very friendly. Front desk is helpful with recommendations and such. The free breakfast is great and definitely hits the spot after a long flight (or before a long drive across the country). But best of all, we didn't really have to stray too far from our hotel at night (which was good, because we were trying to save money on cabs and weren't entirely comfortable walking around at night) because the room service menu is excellent. We had ordered a salad, the four cheese risotto, and numerous other things, and everything was delicious! We still talk about the food at this hotel, to this day. Best hotel food we've had, probably because it doesn't taste like hotel food, but rather a legit restaurant.

We were given fairly large rooms (maybe most/all of them are relatively large) and found them to be clean.

The only heads up - since prostitution is legal in CR, we found that when we came to the hotel in the middle of the week, there was a lobby full of male tourists with some not-so-fashionably dressed women, if you catch my drift. If this kind of thing bothers you then consider yourself warned. If it doesn't (it didn't bother us - we didn't hear anything and they leave you alone) then this is a great hotel to stay at.

Stayed at this hotel recently and couldn't be more happier. Nice, neat and clean hotel with decent sized rooms/ Free breakfast. Has few english channels. One of the most friendly management team I have ever come across anywhere, very helpful folks. Feels like staying at home. Train noise is minimal towards back of the hotel although light sleeps may have a bit of problem in rooms facing the tracks. The overall great experience at this hotel more than makes up for train noise issue which runs like 3/4 times an hour between 6 AM and 10 PM on weekdays only. Will love to stay back here

I was traveling with 2 other friends in San Jose, CR and after many mediocre hotels we stumbled upon La Amistad. It was nothing short of a great experience. The hotel has a boutique feel and is very clean. The rooms have a.c. which is somewhat difficult to find in San Jose. The staff was welcoming and after 2 days of staying there we felt that we were friends with the staff. The location is perfect, a quiet and quaint neighborhood just a few minutes walk from the action. I highly recommend this hotel and would not hesitate to go back.